“According to Marko, Verstappen acted out of emotion during the incident with Russell.”
Following Max Verstappen’s chaotic finish at the Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull motorsport advisor Dr. Helmut Marko admitted he is unsure “what kind of mistake or thought process was happening inside him.”
The reigning F1 champion was vying for the win with a bold three-stop strategy.
However, a late safety car bunched up the field, and Verstappen experienced significant oversteer coming out of the final corner as the safety car exited the track. This caused him to drop from third place to behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
Commenting on the restart during an interview on Servus TV, Dr. Helmut Marko explained why Red Bull instructed their four-time world champion to let Russell pass.
“On the straight, it looked like Leclerc collided with Max’s car. Then the incident with Russell occurred. You have to acknowledge that Max is very familiar with the rules. He quickly said, ‘He lost control, so I had to go wide.’”
“The internal debate was that the situation was evenly balanced. Since it happened just after the safety car period, a 10-second penalty would have a much bigger impact compared to if it occurred during the middle of the race. That was one factor. Max didn’t want to give the position back, but he was ordered to do so—he complied, though reluctantly.
Mercedes driver George Russell made several attempts to overtake Verstappen. After their collision at Turn 1, Red Bull told Verstappen to return the position to Russell.
With only three laps remaining, Verstappen slowed down at Turn 5, allowing Russell to pass on the outside. However, the champion appeared to accelerate again, which resulted in contact between them.
Eventually, Verstappen did let Russell through at Turn 11, but the stewards still gave him a ten-second penalty for causing the collision at Turn 5.
Looking back on the incident where Verstappen seemed to intentionally collide with Russell’s Mercedes, Marko explained that “Max eased off the throttle, so everyone assumed he was yielding to Russell.
Then suddenly he accelerated again. I’m not sure what kind of error in judgment or thought process was happening in his mind. After that, things escalated quickly.
There have been problems like this before. It was unnecessary and costly in terms of points. But with all the incidents and bad decisions that have happened, emotions clearly got the better of him.”
